The Google Cloud employee who was arrested on the suspicion of murdering his wife of 17 years has been released. Sonam Saxena had reported that his wife, Smriti, went missing last Tuesday evening while the two were vacationing in Hawaii and was arrested the next day. The Daily Mail reports that Saxena was released on Friday without charges, pending further investigation into the matter.
Saxena had told officials that his wife, a Microsoft employee, vanished during a late-night stroll on a secluded beach south of Anaehoomalu Bay, in South Kohala. He also said that she had suffered an asthma attack and disappeared as he went to get her inhaler from their room at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort. The couple and their two children take the trip to Hawaii once a year, and were there celebrating their oldest child’s birthday.
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While the body of Smriti Saxena has gotten an autopsy, more tests are needed to determine the actual cause of death. Her widower had previously spoken with West Hawaii Today about the night she went missing.
“She got an asthma attack right there on the beach and she was feeling weak and she didn’t want to walk all the way back because it’s almost a 20-minute walk back from that beach to our room,” he explained. “So, I said, ‘Hey, you know what? You stay here, you have your phone with you and I’ll just go to the room grab your inhaler and pump and come back.”
He went on to say that he returned less than an hour later to find her purse, phone, credit card and driver’s license — but not her.
“I was disturbed because why would she leave her purse and her phone on the beach and head back to the room,” he continued. “It just seemed really odd. So I rushed back to the room. I checked the room and I saw that she wasn’t in the room. So I went downstairs and that’s when I dialed 911.”
The body of Smriti Saxena was found Wednesday morning not far from where she was last seen. Saxena had previously posted a message on LinkedIn looking for a signal boost in his search.
